The Prospect, Eliot Parker [free ebooks for android .TXT] 📗

regarded as one of the best pitcher in the ABA.
Wright, who led the ABA in earned run average, was the first pitcher to record an ERA under two since Guy Normand for the Asheville Tourists in the 1987 season.
But Todd Wright spent some time in July on the disabled list because of tightness in his pitching shoulder. The tightness was not severe, but just a nagging, acute pain that rendered his throwing arm useless and could only be healed with the proverbial recommendation of “plenty of rest and relaxation.”
Wright silenced the Loggers for the first three innings of the game, allowing just one hit, a single by Ryan Head. Wright managed to two Loggers hitters, including some of the best hitters on the team including Biggie Rowan and Chaz Martinez.
Shane took the mound in the fourth inning, feeling sluggish and debilitated. Perhaps it was the long layoff between starts or the sudden burst of energy that shot through his entire body at the beginning of the game. Whatever the reason, Shane had never experienced this type of lassitude.
Yet Shane would never tell anyone. Not Chaz, not Walter, not anybody. He was here to prove a point. To prove to the Charleston fans, the media, and the professional scouts that he belonged, that pitching was the one constant in his life. Despite his mama’s illness, Olivia’s pregnancy, Morton Mitchell’s vendetta…pitching in a ballpark, in the biggest game of the season, with a championship at stake, was the reason he was here. If Olivia was right (and Shane hated to admit that she was) then God’s plan was for him to be a pitcher, and a darn good one.
Shane waited for the sign from Biggie Rowan: the index and pinky fingers, extended and slid against the catcher’s muscular pulsating left thigh. A curveball. Shane looked off towards first, towards a crouching Harry Deitzler who was ready to make a play should the ball roll or be thrown to him.
The hitter was Diego Hernandez. Hernandez had the reputation as being one of the most consistent hitters in the ABA. He had the strength to pull any pitch towards any part of the ballpark and the speed to outrun even the best defensive arms at all positions. For all his talent, Hernandez was loathed by the media for his enigmatic persona. Moreover, Diego was not someone liked or even respected in the clubhouse. According to all the stories in The Charleston Gazette, Diego was very dexterous on the field and very prentice off it.
Diego stood and watched the first curveball sail high. Biggie Rowan used every inch of his 6’6 frame to keep the baseball from sailing over his head and ricocheting against the backstop.
The next signal from the catcher to the pitcher: a fastball.
Three fingers pointed away from Biggie’s left thigh was the sign. Shane’s shoulder was now tingling, with restive muscles ready to violently shrink and expand to propel the ball with savage force towards the batter.
The next pitch was perfect; right on the outside corner for a strike. However, Shane would throw three straight balls before Hernandez smacked a slider into the gap in left center field. The outfield had been playing at “home run depth” because Walter Mann instructed them to respect Diego’s power. The move caused large gaps to be created between left, center, and right field and Diego Hernandez exploited the holes to his advantage.
By the time Chaz Martinez cutoff the throw from the outfield, Diego slid into second base with a standup double.
The next Alley Cats hitter, Brock Yancey smacked a soft ground ball near Ryan Head at second base after a four pitch, two balls, two strikes count, but Ryan took his eye off the ball for one moment. Ryan’s split second decision caused him to bobble the ball, and the toss to Harry Deitzler at first base was late. Now Shane faced runners at the corners with no out as Diego Hernandez now stood on third base.
The inning did end, but not before Todd Wright managed to rip a 0-2 curveball down the right field line, scoring Hernandez. Pat Sutton played the ball perfectly, only allowing Wright to reach first base. Nevertheless, Sheaville was down to the Charleston Alley Cats 2-0 on the road, with the game almost half over.
Charleston’s strategy was to ride Todd Wright’s arm to the championship. With a mostly home crowd of 5,319 fans at Watt Powell Park, the fans could sense end was near for the Sheaville Loggers.
Sheaville had other intentions. Chaz Martinez ended the hitless and scoreless streak for the Loggers with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. Harry Deitzler sent a one ball, two strike changeup pitch into the spacious left field corner of Watt Powell Park, scoring Shane Triplet, who had managed to get on base thanks to a six minute display of patience at the plate.
The game was tied 2-2. Shane, meanwhile, did settle down. An appropriate mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches, as prescribed by Walter Mann and relayed by Biggie Rowan, confused the Alley Cats hitters for the rest of the game.
Billy Rose struck out twice. Brock Yancey was limited to two fly ball outs and Diego Hernandez walked once and hit into an inning-ending double play in the seventh inning.
Alley Cats starter Todd Wright eventually left the game after 8 innings in his seventh home start of the season allowing just two runs while scattering five hits. Wright had managed to consistently work at least 6 innings all season long, so Walter Mann and the Loggers knew that he would be in the ball game for quite some time.
In the top of the eighth, Lee Ramsey replaced Todd Wright. Ramsey was a pitcher that did not feature an overpowering arm like Shane and Todd, but relied more on pitch control and accuracy to regulate hitters. He was prone to making some mistakes, especially when he got behind hitters. At times, his slider would be left in the middle of the plate, a deadly mistake for good hitters which allowed them to amass plenty of hits and runs.
Ramsey’s responsibility was keeping second baseman Ryan Head, third baseman Rex Cooper, and catcher Biggie Rowan off the bases. Since August, the bottom of the order for Walter Mann’s Loggers had been a pleasant surprise. Although the manager did not like to tinker with the lineup, when this combination and batting order was put together, Sheaville finally had some power and speed at the bottom of the lineup. This gave the Loggers the potential to score runs frequently, instead of every few innings.
Ryan Head swung at two bad pitches in the dirt and then totally missed one of Lee Ramsey’s sliders that placed in the middle of the strike zone. Rex Cooper did not miss, however. Ramsey made the mistake of trying to slide a breaking ball over the inside corner of the plate, which Cooper pulled and dropped into left field for a base hit.
When Biggie Rowan came to the plate, Ramsey’s demeanor on the mound changed. Lee was a wiry, lanky pitcher with long legs and protruding knees and skinny arms with relatively large hands. His jet black hair hung underneath the back of his baseball cap and bounced across the base of his neck ever time he moved in a specific direction.
Biggie sensed fear on the faceless expression of the pitcher. Ramsey spent several seconds on the mound climbing and dismounting from the rubber and causally flipping a chalk bag around his wrist. When the umpire forced Ramsey to step onto the mound and deliver the first pitch, the pitcher responded by drilling Rowan in the arm with a sailing fastball that sliced inward like a golf ball caught in a stiff breeze.
The umpire immediately stepped between Biggie and Bill. Both umpires had received specific instructions from ABA Commissioner Tim Morrison not to allow any type of distraction or fighting between players and managers, players and players, or players and fans. Walter Mann skipped onto the infield watching to see what was going to happen. The home plate umpire warned Ramsey that another hit batsman would led to an ejection.
With two men on and nobody out, Ryan Head proved that he has a flair for the dramatic. The first baseman, the chairman of the Sheaville Fall Festival Committee, drilled a Lee Ramsey change up into center field, deep enough that Rex Cooper was able to score from second, just under the outstretched hand of Alley Cats catcher Kelly Asbury. The single gave the Sheaville Loggers a 3-2 lead, heading into the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Shane once again began to lose control on the mound. His fastball had clearly lost some of its overpowering velocity, which drew the ire of the Loggers fans and the joyous applause of Alley Cats fans. In addition, his curveball was not moving right to left across the strike zone, and Alley Cats hitters were either watching the baseball miss the strike zone entirely or waiting for one to linger down the middle of the plate and smashing the ball all over the ball park.
Shane managed to get two hitters, Taylor Allen and Billy Rose, to hit two consecutive shallow fly ball outs but the bases were loaded. Two straight singles and one walk, Shane’s fifth of the game, figuratively “set the table” as Walter Mann called it, for Diego Hernandez. Hernandez, now beginning his fourth appearance at the plate, was 3-4 with 2 hits, 1 RBI, and one walk. Both hits came off of Shane Triplet’s curveball and slider, so this presented a unique quandary for Walter Mann. With Diego being able to hit Shane’s off speed pitches, the only pitch Shane had left in his repertoire was the fastball. But after 92 pitches, Shane’s arm was wearing down, and the tingling in his elbow and shoulder reminded the pitcher of just how hard and how long he had spent on the mound.
Walter Mann approached the umpire and asked for Biggie, Rex, Harry, Ryan, and Chaz to join him. Shane saw them converge on the mound like they were prepared to lead a coup to remove him. Shane glanced for a moment at the press box above Watt Powell Park. The long, rectangular brick-red press box was filled with faces, albeit unrecognizable ones. Shane could not help but wonder where was the scout for the Cincinnati Reds? Where was he sitting? Was he pleased with Shane’s performance? Instead, all Shane noticed was an endless array of expressionless faces and large heads, looking towards the diamond, scribbling and typing feverishly.
“How much you got left Shane?” asked Walter, his voice hoarse but certain.
“I can get him out,” Shane said calmly, although he did not look Walter in the eye because he was watching Biggie Rowan’s round eyes starting at him, almost silently daring him to stay and throw to Diego Hernandez.
Biggie took his eyes off of Shane and surveyed the rest of the infield. Rex’s mouth was drawn to one side as he tapped his left foot. Chaz shifted his weight to one foot and stood with his arms folded. Ryan and Chaz were rubbing shoulders, and their faces held two blank expressions that could not be discerned without some sort of telepathic maneuvering.
“He’s done, skip,” Biggie interjected. “Pretty boy has been losing it for a while now.”
“Wait a minute!” Shane refuted in protest.
“We are trying to win a championship fucker and we do not have time for you to try and be Superman and cost us the game.”
Shane tried to gauge a reaction from Walter, but the manager was prepared to let the debate continue.
“Granted, I may not have overpowering stuff like I did three